- By Priyanka Koul
- Fri, 13 Mar 2026 09:42 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Iran-Israel War: US President Donald Trump has expressed his belief that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive "in some form," despite not being seen publicly since assuming office following the outbreak of war in Iran. Trump's comments followed a report from US media suggesting that Khamenei had been injured in US-Israeli strikes, which also killed his father during an attack on a Tehran compound on 28 February, and that he could possibly be in a coma.
"I think he probably is. I think he is damaged, but I think he's probably alive in some form, you know," Trump said during an appearance on the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio.
Trump’s remarks came after Mojtaba Khamenei made his first public statement since becoming supreme leader, in which he indicated that Iran would not back down in its conflict with the United States and Israel. While the message was broadcast on Iranian state television, Khamenei did not appear in person instead, it was read out by a newsreader.
In his statement, attributed to Khamenei, Iran reaffirmed its intention to block the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest oil shipping route.
"We will not refrain from avenging the blood of your martyrs," Khamenei said in an address to the Iranians. He also said Iran should close the Strait of Hormuz and keep attacking its Gulf Arab neighbours as leverage and called on people in Gulf countries to "shut down" US bases, saying promised US protection is "nothing more than a lie".
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Is Iran’s New Supreme Leader in Coma?
Speculation about Khamenei’s condition has been rife following recent strikes. A report from The Sun suggested that the 56-year-old cleric had lost at least one leg and sustained serious damage to his stomach or liver in the attack that also killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece, and his father, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Earlier, an Iranian ambassador had stated that Khamenei was injured during the early stages of the war. "I have heard that he was injured in his legs and hand and arm... I think he is in the hospital because he is injured," Ambassador Alireza Salarian said earlier this week.
It has been reported by the Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed Iranian official, that Khamenei was "lightly injured", but there have been no details.
Since becoming supreme leader, Khamenei has not appeared in public, and there have been no photographs or videos of him. Iranian state television has referred to him as a "veteran of the Ramadan war," but there has been no official confirmation about whether he sustained any injuries.
Mojtaba Khamenei was named supreme leader on March 8, following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.